luminosity

I’ve been noticing my preferences for flower color lately. I have a particular affinity for the color blue, although white (not a color) comes in close second. Violet is, in my consideration, just a variation of the color blue, although red-violet is another color altogether. Red is next, although my preference goes to those coral reds, which is a hard color to define. Red flowers definitely fall into two categories: warm reds and cool reds, and they frequently don’t go well together. The warm reds have a bit of yellow in them, so they tend towards scarlet, or orange. The cool reds have more blue, and tend towards magenta, or purple. I think the corals are slightly less orange than scarlet, but that's according to my prismacolor set. Pinks are next down the list, although I love pink flowers with a bit of pale yellow in them, like certain roses with pink petals and a center glowing with a hint of yellow (‘Complicata’ comes to mind, although ‘Peace’ usually has too much yellow). Which is surprising since yellow is at the bottom of my list (see my earlier post on yellow).

Most interesting for me to realize is just how picky my eye is. There is very little difference between the blue of Salvia ‘Indigo Spires’ and that of S. ‘Mystic Spires’ or even S. ‘May Night’. But my eye definitely prefers ‘Indigo Spires’ which has more color to the calyx than ‘Mystic Spires’ in my garden, and a larger flower than S. ‘May Night.’ Salvia chamaedryoides has true blue flowers, but doesn’t catch my eye like the blue-violet flowers, and doesn’t have the quality of color that Salvia azurea has, even though they are of similar color. Why do the flowers of Penstemon linarioides and Penstemon heterophyllus capture my attention? Likewise, the red of Sphaeralcea ‘Louis Hamilton’ catches my eye like few other red flowers can. The chalky white of white yarrow leaves me cold, yet the white petals of Cistus ladanifer make me gasp.

The difference is luminosity. Luminosity is the ability of a flower (or foliage for that matter) to catch light. Those flowers that seem to hold light in their centers have an edge up. Although the flowers of Salvia azurea are less saturated than S. chamaedryoides, the flowers are of a size to reflect light, especially from the white centers. The white flowers of Cistus have petals so thin that back lighting makes them glow (see above). Some agastaches have this quality in their pink or orange petals, and so do many Penstemon. Penstemon linaroides is like a deep bass note that vibrates my core when the blooms are lit by the soft light of morning. It’s why Veronica incana leaves me flat, but Veronica tauricula gets me excited. Other plants that have good luminosity are the flowers of weedy Oenothera speciosa, and the equally weedy Nasella tenuissima, Iris, Euphorbia, the seedheads of Cercocapus. The flowers don’t have to be large: think Hamaemelis mollis, or Cornus mas. Although size can be dazzling, as in some peonies. Another thing is the setting. Lighting, of course, but also background. When I stained my fence to a dark brown (from weathered tan), the plants really popped, especially with the setting or rising sun. Callirhoe ivolucrata var. tenuissima is a almost nondescript pink poppy-like flower, but when set off by the silvery leaves of Stachys it becomes a star.